eco – internal Membership Meeting “Connectivity Infrastructure and Fair Contribution”

in January 2022, the EU Commission presented a "European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade", in which it proposes the "fair and appropriate contribution" of all market participants in the infrastructure costs for connectivity networks. In their decision on the 2030 Policy Programme “Path to the Digital Decade” on 30 November 2022, the European Parliament and the European Council accordingly foresee that “all market actors benefiting from the digital
transformation should assume their social responsibilities and make a fair and
proportionate contribution to the public goods, services and infrastructures, for the benefit
of all citizens in the Union”. While this phrasing is interpreted by one part of the market participants as an implicit consent to demands that large content and application service providers share in the costs of network rollout, the other part of the market participants perceive it merely as a commitment to a level playing field.

In recent months, the fair share debate has flared up about whether the large content and application service providers should share in the costs of digital connectivity networks and whether regulatory intervention in the European Union would be appropriate. eco  closely follows and accompanies  the current debate and the associated processes at the national and EU level. In November 2022, we successfully organised our bxlTALK with the topic "Network Access Fees - Is it Fair to Share?", in which numerous European stakeholders from business, research and public institutions participated. Furthermore, in December 2022 we completed a background paper "Internet Interconnection and Infrastructure: On the Debate of Infrastructure Cost Sharing", which we provide to our members. The eco - White Paper is available for download in the member area.

It is expected that the European Commission will launch a public consultation on "fair contribution" in early 2023 as part of the wider consultation on the future of connectivity. Against the background of this development, we would like to invite you to an internal exchange of views and opinions within the membership to the

 Meeting on "Connectivity Infrastructure and Fair Contribution"

on 12 January 2023 at 15:00 – 16:30 CET

This online meeting is exclusively addressed to our member companies. The purpose is to prepare for participation in the envisaged EU consultation, while discussing our members' views on the fair share debate. The event will be held in English. Further details will be provided ahead of the event. You can register now below. We look forward to a stimulating exchange of ideas and solutions with our member companies of the Internet Ecosystem.